#China backtracked on nearly all aspects of #US trade deal - All of us that follow & know China knew that this was never going to fly. You can't negotiate with a rogue, predatory state like China. This is for the better. mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/id…

The diplomatic cable from Beijing arrived in Washington late on Friday night, with systematic edits to a nearly 150-page draft trade agreement that would blow up months of negotiations. The document was riddled with reversals by China that undermined core US demands, sources said

In each of the 7 chapters of the draft trade deal, China deleted its commitments to change laws to resolve core complaints that caused the US to launch a trade war: theft of US IP & trade secrets; forced tech transfers; competition policy; access to financial services, etc, etc.

U.S. President Donald Trump responded in a tweet on Sunday vowing to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 to 25 percent on Friday – timed to land in the middle of a scheduled visit by China's Vice Premier Liu He to Washington to continue trade talks.

The stripping of binding legal language from the draft struck directly at the highest priority of US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer - who views changes to Chinese laws as essential to verifying compliance after years of what US officials have called empty reform promises.

Lighthizer & Treasury Secretary S Mnuchin were taken aback at the extent of the changes in the draft. The two cabinet officials on Monday told reporters that Chinese backtracking had prompted Trump's tariff order but did not provide details on the depth & breadth of the revisions

Liu last week told Lighthizer & Mnuchin that they needed to trust China to fulfil its pledges through administrative & regulatory changes, two of the sources said. Both Mnuchin and Lighthizer considered that unacceptable, given China's history of failing to fulfil reform pledges.

One private-sector source briefed on the talks said the last round of negotiations had gone very poorly because "China got greedy. China reneged on a dozen things, if not more ... The talks were so bad that the real surprise is that it took Trump until Sunday to blow up" he said.

My take: China believes that its economy is stabilizing & adjusting after the first round of the trade war, therefore, there is no need to give concessions. Well, I have plenty of business sources in China that tell me otherwise. Xi can drink his Kool-Aid, no problem.

My take 2: I guarantee, 25% tariffs + the expansion of that 25% to the remaining imports, that means tens of 1000s of factories closing in China over the next 6 months. Xi doesn't realize that its not just exports to US, exporters move out in mass, the whole supply chain moves.

President Trump said Chinese officials are slow-walking talks over a trade deal because ​they’d rather negotiate with presidential candidate Joe Biden or one of the “very weak Democrats” — but he won’t let that happen.

“The reason for China's pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is their HOPE that they'll be able to ​’​negotiate​’​ with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats & continue to ripoff the US (($500 Billion a year)) for years to come​,” Trump posted on Twitter.

”Guess what, that’s not going to happen! China has just informed us that they are now coming to the U.S. to make a deal​,” he continued. “We’ll see, but I am very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling US coffers…great for US, not good for China!​”

Ongoing talks between the 2 countries deteriorated after US officials blamed China for trying to walk back agreements they made in earlier meetings & Trump tweeted that he was planning ​to raise import taxes on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from 10% this Friday.

Biden took heat last week when he pooh-poohed China being an economic threat to the US. “China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man,” Biden said during a campaign stop in Iowa.

Cramer: These are the two numbers that gave #Trump confidence to hit #China with new tariff threat: "3.2% GDP & 3.6% unemployment” - People are saying that #US companies that didn’t reduce their China exposure yet are the ones at fault" 👍 cnbc.com/2019/05/07/cra…

People are saying that American companies that didn’t reduce their China exposure after months and months of watching Washington and Beijing clash on trade have only themselves to blame, CNBC’s Jim Cramer reported Tuesday.

“I’m also told that they are like, ‘Are you kidding me, you had a full year to move out of China. If you didn’t move out of China now, it’s your own fault,’” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street. ”

“My people I talk to said 2 numbers determine everything, 3.2% GDP & 3.6% unemployment. That’s when things changed. In other words, the Chinese played a little tougher but they overplayed their hand is what my people say. They overplayed their hand given the numbers that we have”

#US tariff increase on $200 billion of Chinese imports takes effect - #China’s Commerce Ministry said it would take “necessary countermeasures” but gave no details. 👍 nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s…

President Donald Trump’s latest tariff hikes on Chinese goods took effect Friday and Beijing said it would retaliate, escalating a battle over China’s technology ambitions and other trade strains.

The Trump administration raised import taxes on $200 billion of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. China's Commerce Ministry said it would take "necessary countermeasures" but gave no details.

The increase went ahead even as American and Chinese negotiators began another round of talks in Washington aimed at ending a battle that has disrupted billions of dollars in trade and shaken global financial markets.

US officials accuse Beijing of backtracking on commitments made in earlier rounds of negotiations. The talks were to resume Friday after wrapping up without any progress. "China deeply regrets that it'll have to take necessary countermeasures," said a Commerce Ministry statement.

Beijing retaliated for previous tariff hikes by raising duties on $110 billion of American imports. But regulators are running out of US goods for penalties due to their lopsided trade balance. Regulators in China are slowing customs clearance for US goods & step up scrutiny.

The higher import taxes apply to Chinese goods shipped on or after Friday. Goods already on the way to US ports will be charged the lower earlier rate. By sea, goods sent from China take 3 weeks to cross the Pacific. That gives negotiators more time to reach a agreement

No resolution as #US-#China trade war talks end and Beijing delegation reportedly prepares to leave Washington (FAILURE) - After raising tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese imports, USTR warns of new tariffs on another US$300 billion 👍 Go for it! scmp.com/news/china/dip…

Negotiations to end the US-China trade war came to a surprisingly early close in Washington on Friday with no resolution – reportedly just hours before the Chinese delegation were to return to Beijing.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at noon that the talks had been constructive as he left the US trade representative’s office, where negotiators held their latest round of talks in an attempt to end a months-long trade dispute.

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Chinese state media tabloid Global Times, said the delegation from Beijing was expected to leave the US on Friday afternoon, after a total of just three hours of discussions over two days plus a working dinner on Thursday evening.

More significant was the fact that the talks broke with precedent by ending without a meeting between Trump and China’s chief negotiator, Liu He, said Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Centre at the Brookings Institution.

Mnuchin told CNBC that there were no further negotiations planned “as of now”. On Friday evening, Lighthizer’s announced that Trump “ordered us to begin the process of raising tariffs on essentially all remaining imports from China, which are valued at around US$300 billion”. 👍

My take: Everything as expected, no deal expected now. What can be expected is a massive acceleration of foreign companies leaving #China. Those that had placed hopes on the talks, now know. Last foreign company to leave China, please turn off the lights. #EU, where are you?

My take 2: The gloves are off now. Once the tariffs get extended to the remaining 300 billion of Chinese imports, ALL imports from China will have the 25% rate. The supply chain will move out of China like a flood. Xi stabilized the economy with financial stimulus, bad call.

My take 3: The financial stimulus will only delay the inevitable & creates a mountain of debt, but based on that temporary stability (& not wanting to lose face), Xi decided to go back on the trade deal, they feel strong enough to handle the trade war, sorry Xi, it wont work.

#Trump orders tariff hike on remaining #Chinese imports - "The President... ordered us to begin the process of raising tariffs on essentially all remaining imports from #China, which are about $300 billion". This in addition to the increase from 10% to 25% news.yahoo.com/us-china-trade…

US President Donald Trump cranked up the heat in a trade battle with China on Friday, ordering a tariff hike on almost all remaining imports from the world's second-biggest economy, but Beijing said talks would continue to resolve the row.

The move came less than 24 hours after Washington increased punitive duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, raising them to 25 percent from 10 percent.

The developments came as two days of talks to resolve the trade battle ended Friday with no deal, but no breakdown either, offering a glimmer of hope that Washington and Beijing could find a way to avert damage to the global economy.

The tariffs on China "may or may not be removed depending on what happens with respect to future negotiations!" After weeks of rising optimism about the chances for an agreement, the tone out of the White House has veered from anger to nonchalance.

The US leader continues to argue that tariffs could in some ways be preferable to reaching a trade deal. "Tariffs will bring in FAR MORE wealth to our country than even a phenomenal deal of the traditional kind," Trump wrote.

Related hashtags

Exclusive: #China backtracked on nearly all aspects of #US trade deal - All of us that follow & know China knew that this was never going to fly. You can't negotiate with a rogue, predator state like China. mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/id…

The diplomatic cable from Beijing arrived in Washington late on Friday night, with systematic edits to a nearly 150-page draft trade agreement that would blow up months of negotiations. The document was riddled with reversals by China that undermined core US demands, sources said

In each of the 7 chapters of the draft trade deal, China deleted its commitments to change laws to resolve core complaints that caused the US to launch a trade war: theft of US IP & trade secrets; forced tech transfers; competition policy; access to financial services, etc, etc.

#US footwear maker Brooks Running to move #China production to #Vietnam this year to avoid trade war tariffs. About 8,000 jobs will also move from China to Vietnam 👍 - Last foreign company to leave China, please turn off the lights e.vnexpress.net/news/business/…

The U.S company's CEO Jim Weber said Friday that his company took the decision in January when U.S. President Donald Trump was threatening to boost shoes tariffs from 20 percent to 45 percent.

"We’re going to pull most of our production out of China," he said. "We’ve had to make a long-term decision on this picture. It’s disruptive, but the reality. So we’ll be predominantly in Vietnam by the end of the year," he told Reuters.

Imminent Roll-Out For #China’s First Carrier-Based #AWACS Aircraft - China's carrier-based AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) is expected to leave the assembly line and conduct its first flight between late 2019 & late 2020. navalnews.com/naval-news/201…

While China’s 3rd aircraft carrier prepares for a keel laying sometime in 2019, another component of China's naval aviation should conduct its first flight soon: The AWACS, able to take off using a catapult & tasked with air & surface surveillance around the carrier strike group.

A carrier-based AWACS is a big first for China, so the time needed for the industrial phase & first flight of the prototype could be much longer. With this in mind, an educated guess would put the roll-out of the first Chinese AWACS between the end of 2019 & the end of 2020.

Related threads

China’s General Administration of Customs said exports were down by 20% in February year on year as the trade war with the United States took its toll on the world’s second-biggest economy.

China’s stock market also had its worst day in five months on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai composite stock index shedding 4.4 per cent. Investor sentiment remains fragile, indicating that optimistic forecasts of a sustained bull market may be premature.

In 2012, Tim Cook announced Apple would make a Mac computer in the US.

But when Apple began making the $3000 computer in Texas, it struggled to find enough screws. By the time the computer was ready for mass production, Apple had ordered screws from China nyti.ms/2HBT2QK

Apple CEO Tim Cook: “The skill here is just incredible. In the US, you could have a meeting of tooling engineers and I’m not sure we could fill the room. In China, you could fill multiple football fields.” (h/t @scottlincicome)

🇫🇷 🇪🇺 🇨🇳 French tire maker Michelin warned of declining sales in Europe and #China in the second half of the year, dragging down shares of its competitors in the U.S. and Europe - Bloomberg
*Statement: bit.ly/2EujhqH

🇺🇸🇨🇳🇪🇺 In a volley of filings, the EU, #China and the U.S. this week escalated disputes over new U.S. metals tariffs, the European response to those levies, and Chinese intellectual property practices - Bloombergbloomberg.com/news/articles/…

#Khashoggi Case Thread: I am going to ‘pin’ this post to use it as an ‘Info Thread’ on the #Khashoggi Case. I am in #Turkey. I’ve been following the case closely and with access to sources & experts here. This is a very ‘sensitive’ criminal case due to ‘Diplomatic Booby Traps’!!!

The Evidence Obtained Outside Cameras will not show any evidence of ‘tempering’ but other than license plates of dozens of diplomatic cars (Many with tinted windows-large trunks) with related time stamp, drivers Info, model/year: Nothing.

#Turkish Intel-Investigative Bodies also have the list of all Diplomatic & Private Saudi & “other significant’ Planes in #Turkey for the period of ‘interest.’ Many of the Target airports have their own security cameras & related evidence.

Why was this immediately disregarded as false?
What is ‘Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria’?
Why is this relevant?
Why would the President of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA be reading this book?
What church did BO attend as pre-POTUS?
Who was BO’s mentor?

How is Alwaleed and HRC connected?
Who was HRC’s mentor?
How is Alwaleed and Bush Sr./Jr. connected?
What occurred post 9-11?
What war did we enter into?
What was the purpose and disclosures given re: justification?
Who financed 9-11?